Bethesda Presbyterian Church (Aberdeen, North Carolina)

Bethesda Presbyterian Church
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Bethesda Presbyterian Church, September 2011
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Location	NC 5, Aberdeen, North Carolina
Coordinates	35°7′52″N79°24′45″W / 35.13111°N 79.41250°W / 35.13111; -79.41250
Area	22.2 acres (9.0 ha)
Built	1860 (1860)
Built by	McLeod, Archie; McCaskill, Norman
NRHP reference No.	79003345 [1]
Added to NRHP	July 22, 1979

Bethesda Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church located on NC 5 in Aberdeen, Moore County, North Carolina.

Architecture

It is a two-story, vernacular frame meeting house. It rests on tall granite piers, is sheathed in weatherboard, and has a hipped roof. The front facade features a projecting two-stage bell tower. ^[2] The upper gallery of the church were originally reserved for slaves. ^[3]

History

A Presbyterian congregation was established in Aberdeen in 1788, ^[4] founded by Highland Scots who emigrated to North Carolina. They built a church in the early 1800s but their congregation had outgrown the building by 1859. ^[3] In 1860, ^[2] a new church was constructed at the site. ^[3] It was the third church built on those grounds and was dedicated on May 10, 1862. ^[4]

During the American Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman's army camped on the church's grounds. ^[5] The exterior sustained bullet holes during the war, which are visible today. ^[6]

In 1907, the congregation moved to a larger space, ^[3] a newly constructed Gothic Revival Bethesda Presbyterian Church on High Street. ^[7] The original 1860 church building has since been preserved in its original condition. ^[3] The Old Bethesda Cemetery Association was formed to maintain the church and its cemetery in 1927. ^[2]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. ^[1] It is now the oldest surviving church in Aberdeen. ^[3] It is often used as a venue for weddings and other events. ^[6]

Cemetery

Also on the property is the Bethesda Cemetery which has historically been used by both the church's congregation and members of adjacent communities. ^[2] Several historical figures, including Allison Francis Page, Aberdeen's founder, ^[8] Walter Hines Page, ^[5] Frank Page, ^[9] and Robert N. Page, ^[10] are buried there.

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. Davyd Foard Hood and Jerry Cross (April 1979). "Bethesda Presbyterian Church" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
3. Farrell, Robert A. (2013). Aberdeen. Arcadia Publishing. p. 10. ISBN   978-0-7385-9815-4.
4. Massengill, Stephen E. (1998-05-01). Around Southern Pines: A Sandhills Album. Arcadia Publishing. p. 77. ISBN   978-0-7385-5419-8.
5. Project, Federal Writers' (2013-10-31). The WPA Guide to North Carolina: The Tar Heel State. Trinity University Press. p. 350. ISBN   978-1-59534-231-7.
6. Craig, Ruth; Sullivan, Mark (2007-02-13). Fodor's the Carolinas & Georgia. Fodor's Travel Publications. p. 127. ISBN   978-1-4000-1741-6.
7. Farrell, Robert A. (2013). Aberdeen. Arcadia Publishing. p. 28. ISBN   978-0-7385-9815-4.
8. Powell, William S. (2000-11-09). Dictionary of North Carolina Biography: Vol. 5, P-S. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 2. ISBN   978-0-8078-6700-6.
9. "Page, Frank | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
10. Spencer, Thomas E. (1998). Where They're Buried: A Directory Containing More Than Twenty Thousand Names of Notable Persons Buried in American Cemeteries, with Listings of Many Prominent People who Were Cremated. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 260. ISBN   978-0-8063-4823-0.